


Love Is The Fishhook That Hooks The Fish

by LaughingThalia



Series: Orville Coda [7]
Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: Episode: S2E1 Ja'loja, F/M, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, One-Sided Attraction, Outer Space, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-03 17:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17288351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughingThalia/pseuds/LaughingThalia
Summary: ---“Hey... Is anyone sitting here?”---...--Gordon looked up across the Ja'loja celebrations, passed Alara and LaMarr standing at the piano and Claire standing with her family; he looked up and saw the woman he had fallen in love with instantly sitting down with his Captain and best friend.----Janel Tyler laughed and clinked glasses with Ed and suddenly the vision of Gordon and Janel being an item swirled down the drain.-----Gordon had fallen for her; hook, line and sinker and he had missed his chance.---





	1. Yearning.

Gordon looked up across the Ja'loja celebrations, passed Alara and LaMarr standing at the piano and Claire and Isaac standing with her family; he looked up and saw the woman he had fallen in love with instantly sitting down with his Captain and his best friend. Janel Tyler laughed and her and Ed clinked glasses and suddenly the vision of him and Janel being an item swirled down the drain. Ed was the Captain of the Orville, she would be blinded by her love of exploration and his authority on the ship and chose him over Gordon any day. He had fallen for her hook line and sinker and then he had missed his chance.

 

He wanted a drink desperately, but of course Ed and Janel were sitting at the bar with Olix, the bartender, “Hey uh Dann,” he said to the pale green alien poet sitting across form him, “this has been nice but I'm going to head back to my room.”

 

“You're going to leave the party? I though you loved parties.”

 

“Yeah I'm just not feeling too great.”

 

“Should I get Dr Finn?”

 

Gordon shook his head “It's nothing that serious, I'm probably still just recovering from watching Bortus pee.” and with that last weak joke, Gordon Malloy made his escape back to his room and synthesised some alcohol.

 

Half an hour later there was a knock on his door and John LaMarr entered his room holding two large spoons in his hand. “John, what are you doing here?”

 

“When Alara went to get some Tequila I noticed that Ed was sitting with the new Cartographer and Dann said you were feeling sick. I figured you were probably heartsick so brought ice cream.”

 

“You brought spoons.”

 

John walked over to the synthesiser and created two large bowls of ice cream and stuck a spoon in each “I brought ice cream.”

 

Gordon laughed “Thanks. Man I'm such an idiot to ever think she would like me. When we were talking earlier she barely even looked at me.”

 

“Hey we both know that Ed is still in love with Kelly, that means you still have a chance with Janel.”

 

“But he's dated other people before, remember Pria? And besides Kelly's already dating someone else, Ed due for a rebound.”

 

“Kelly's dating someone?!” John exclaimed.

 

“Yeah, some teacher. I don't know, Ed doesn't really talk to me about his problems.”

 

“He does't? Aren't you his best friend?”

Gordon frowned, “Our friendships never really bee like that though. We help each other out, we don't really talk. When Kelly cheated on Ed he just turned up at my apartment one day and asked if he could sleep on my couch for a while, he didn't tell me what actually happened for like 2 months.”

 

“And you never asked?”

 

Gordon shrugged as if that explained everything.

 

“Huh, no wonder Ed's been spending so much time at the bar lately.”

 

The two friends continued to chat and eat ice cream and started watching the old Earth show, Law & Order: SVU season 23 until Gordon fell asleep and John went back to his own room. On the way he walked past The Captain's corridor and saw a wisp of blonde hair an a green jacket disappear inside his room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Passion.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed wasn't sure how he got so damn lucky for the Lieutenant Janel Tyler to fall for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry guys eventually Janel will get some agency and character trait of her own besides what other members of the crew think of her.
> 
> I have a plot outline but I'm wondering If I should wait until S2E2 comes out where we'll hopefully get more of her character and personality as well as her relationship with Ed and how they work together. I'm bad at writing small talk hence why I often try to skip over it when writing by just saying 'they talked and laughed for a while' lazy as hell, I know, but I write fan fiction not novels.
> 
> Also the Pria fic and the Cupid's Dagger fics I did work with this set in the same universe.

Ed wasn't sure how he got so damn lucky for the new cartographer to fall for him. A beautiful woman who hadn't seen any of his previous screw ups, hadn't heard any of his previous troubles, didn't know about his ex-wife who was also their first officer, she was like a God send.

 

Lieutenant Janel _“I think your cute, Ed Mercer”_ Tyler.

 

That's an actual thing that she had said over drinks, she thought he was cute. He'd never been much of a first date sex kind of guy, Gordon liked to call that 'nice guy syndrome' but he ended up in bed with Janel pretty quickly.

 

A couple of the other officers at Bortus' Ja'loja party had seen them disappear together so of course this would be hot gossip by the morning. Hot was just the right word for it. Everything about what they did in that bed was hot, she was incredibly hot and for a second he couldn't help but remember the last time he'd been I this situation. Darulio, Pria. Both times turned out terribly, Darulio had drugged him with pheromones and of course Pria had been playing them all from the beginning.

 

There was no way that could happen again. Third times the charm and all that and besides Alara had vetted the lieutenant and Ed trusted Alara with his life, he had to, she was his chief of security. And so it was with that assurance that he let his guard down enough to make passionate love to her an the two fell asleep in each other's arms.

 

He woke up with a gun pointed at him and a red faced Alara yelling “Oh my God!”

 

He jumped in shock “Alara! What are you doing here!” he pulled the covers up around the two of them, to keep some sense of decency with his good friend and work colleague.

 

Alara looked absolutely mortified “My apologies Captain, it's just Gordon and I found it a bit worrying when you didn't answer.”

 

“Gordon?” Gordon didn't often come by his room, they mostly hung out on the helm or in the mess hall, sometimes the two of them and John would go to the simulator but he could probably count on one hand the number of times Gordon had come to his room to talk. That being said with a woman in his bed was not the best time to talk to his friend, if it was urgent he would already have the information, he'd just find him at breakfast.

“Yeah he was looking for you and you always answer your door if you're in so when you didn't it was a bit odd, I'll tell him you were sleeping. Again I'm very sorry for the intrusion, sorry Captain, Lieutenant.” She quickly rushed out of the room.

 

“Well what a way to be introduced to the crew.” Janel laughed.

 

“What a way indeed. Don't worry about Alara, she's not going to gossip about all this.”

 

“What about everyone who saw us leave the party together?”

 

“Okay, _those_ guys will gossip. Nothing much I can do about that, but it won't effect your work at least.”

 

“That's good to hear.” She kissed him softly “But if they do ask... can I tell them I'm your girlfriend?”

  
  


Oh wow that was fast “Um wow okay.”

 

“So we're exclusive?”  
  


“Absolutely!” How the _hell_ did he get this lucky?


	3. Search.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> _"Is anyone sitting here?"_
> 
>  
> 
> _“Uuum... no.”_  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> A shared drink turns into something more between Ed and Janel.

For the first time ever Gordon woke up depressed but not hungover, he was glad John had brought him ice cream instead of more alcohol, when he and Ed had issues they tended to try and drink their problems away which often resulted in killer head aches. He knew they had been given a late start due to the festivities of last night but Gordon got up early anyway, showered and dressed and made his way over to the bridge.

 

On the way he reviewed some of the things he'd talked about with John. Him and Ed didn't really talk about their feelings with each other a whole lot, Ed had had Kelly and Gordon tended to just vent to whoever he was with at the time, it's why he's constantly accused of oversharing.

 

Maybe if he just went to the Captain, who also happened to be his best friend, he could get his chance with Janel back, actually ask her out without severely chickening out. He knocked on his door and waited a moment. There was no reply so he knocked again. He didn't hear anything so he assumed Ed must already be up and working, Ed Mercer may sometimes seem a tad unprofessional but he works hard, he didn't make Captain for nothing.

 

Again there was no one in his office which means he was somewhere else completely, and he wasn't logged as being in the helm but maybe he just hadn't logged it, he considered heading up to the Helm when he ran into Alara “Oh Alara, have you seen Ed?”

 

She checked her watch “Well I would imagine at this time he's still in his room.”

 

“But he didn't answer the door when I knocked.”

 

Alara frowned and checked he security GPS system “According to this he's still in his room. You say he didn't answer?”

 

“Do you think he's in trouble?”

 

“I don't know, but it's my job to check. Come on.”

 

They two made their way back down to the Captain's quarters and knocked once more, Alara put her ear to the door ro see if she could hear anything and frowned when it was completely silent. “Wait here.” She said as she pulled out her gun and opened the door herself using her security over ride.

 

“What! Why can't I come with you?”

 

“This is a matter of security. As chief the protocol is I go in alone. If I need back up I'll call you.” And then she entered the room checking every corner until she came to Ed's bedroom. She knocked cautiously and still there was no reply. So she busted in there and immediately regretted it. It seemed the door opening was enough to finally wake Ed from his slumber but he wasn't alone, next to him, curled up in Ed's long limbs was the new Dark Matter Cartographer “Oh my God!” She exclaimed, lowering her gun.

 

“Alara! What are you doing here?!” Ed cried, pulling the covers over the two of them.

 

“My apologies Captain, it's just Gordon and I found it a bit worrying when you didn't answer.”

 

“Gordon?”

 

“Yeah he was looking for you and you always answer your door if you're in so when you didn't it was a bit odd, I'll tell him you were sleeping. Again I'm very sorry for the intrusion, sorry Captain, Lieutenant.” She quickly rushed out of the room and bumped straight into Gordon having forgotten she'd left him outside.

 

“Well?” He asked.

 

“He's fine, he was just asleep, I'm sure you can talk to him about whatever it is when he heads down to breakfast.”

 

“Right okay, thanks Alara. Sorry for worrying you.”

 

“No don't be, you did the right thing telling me. My one job is to make sure nothing happens to The Captain.”

 

“Are you okay? You seem upset.”

 

“Just embarrassed. It's not every day you bust in on your boss in bed.” _with a woman_.

 

Truth was she was upset. Ed had said that the two of them were the most similar on the whole ship, they drank together, they talked to each other about their problems, she was embarrassed to admit that she had a bit of a crush on the Captain, hence why her dating life on the ship had been so abysmal. She had been starting to think that maybe Ed felt the same way but clearly he hadn't. If he had gotten back with Kelly, Alara could understand that but a completely new woman was a bitter pill to swallow.

 

Maybe Ed had a type. Kelly, Pria, Janel. All tall, blond, high ranking, human. She was none of those things and those three woman were more mature and confident than Alara had ever been. Ed probably looked at her and saw a child, she was basically half his age and she was his direct subordinate of course Ed didn't like her.

 

Alara had realised she'd just started walking and had ended up at Dr Finn's quarters and she knocked. Claire had doctor-patient confidentiality and she usually had good advice. Claire answered promptly and the door slid open to reveal Isaac in a cooking apron flipping the most perfectly round pancakes she had ever seen.

 

Claire was helping him and Ty was setting the table for breakfast whilst Marcus sat on his phone and ignored his family. Typical teenager. “Um Claire, can I talk to you for a sec?”

 

“Of course, come on.” Claire led her down the hallway to her room and they sat at a desk that was in one corner of the room “Welcome to my study, what seems to be the problem?”

 

“My heart hurts.”

 

“What?” Claire asked, concerned.

 

“Not like that, I just need confidentiality.”

 

“Alara, you know even outside of d/p confidentiality I would take your secrets to the grave.”

 

“I know, I just- I can't ever let anyone know.”

 

“Know what?”

 

“Ed's in love with Janel... and I'm in love with Ed.”

 

“The Captain? Ed Mercer? Our Ed?”

 

“Yes, our Captain Ed.”

 

“Oh my stars!”

 

“I saw Ed and Janel together in bed today, he definitely likes her.”

 

“So what kind of advice are you looking for here?”

 

“I don't know. Claire, what do I do?”

 

“Did you hear what Ed did?”

 

“Um... no?”

 

“Kelly is dating someone new, a teacher her on the ship, actually Marcus' teacher, the two of them got into a fight and Ed gave him advice on how to patch things up. We all know he still loves Kelly, even if he's still angry at her for cheating, but he-”

 

“He put all that aside so she would be happy.”

 

“Exactly.”

 

“So I should put my feelings for the Cap aside and if him and Janel don't work out? If they break up or if this was just a one night stand and they never even started dating? What do I do then?”

 

“First you need to assess whether you love Ed or the idea of Ed.”

 

“The idea of Ed?”

 

“A captain, your mentor, a father figure in your life, sometimes people-”

 

“Ew gross Dr Finn! I don't see Ed like a father, I know he's older than me but I'm not a weirdo.”

 

“Okay okay well then second make sure Kelly won't be jealous. I know she's already dating someone new but there's something called 'The Rachel Effect' in which a person is dating someone else but doesn't want an ex they care about to date someone else. They don't want them but they don't want anyone else to have them.”

 

“Why is it called The Rachel Effect?”

 

“It's derived from an old Earth TV show called Friends.”

 

“Okay and if Kelly's okay with it?”

 

“Then you build up your courage and you ask him out.”

 

“Even though we're both helmsmen? That won't be weird? Or taboo?”

 

“A Captain and his first officer shouldn't be together but everyone else on the ship including civilian passengers is free game and including you. So long as it doesn't effect your duties as chief of security.”

 

“Wow okay, I'll talk to the Captain, figure out if they're together and if they are, I'll be happy for them.”

 

“Exactly.”

 

“MOM THE PANCAKES ARE READY!” one of the boys called from the kitchen.

 

“Well I won't keep you from your breakfast, thank you Claire.” As they made their way to the door Alara stopped her “Also what's going on with you and Isaac...?”

 

“He wanted to observe a human family for his research.”

 

“And that includes helping you your parent-teacher conferences and making pancakes?”

 

“How did you know about that?”

 

“Hacking is a security risk, I was informed.”

 

“Well like I said, there's nothing going on with Isaac and I.”

 

“Okay Dr Finn, thank you for the advice.” Alara left Claire's house feeling rejuvenated. When she'd entered her heart had hurt and her spirits had been low but now she had hope all she had to was ask if they were together, approach him like a friend and just ask him.

 

She misused her security clearance to track down Ed Mercer on his way to breakfast, a quick scan showed him walking with Gordon, and Alara moved to intercept them so she could catch him before they got to the mess hall.

 

As she got to the corridor adjacent to the one they were in she could hear their conversation.

 

“So um Ed, you know we're best friends. I know we don't really ever talk about our feelings but I uh... I was wondering what's going on with you and Janel because I really like her, I was hoping you would back off a little so I could make my move.”

 

Ed paused “Oh um... Janel... Janel already told me I could call her my girlfriend.”

 

“What! When?”

 

“This morning when we woke up. I figured since Alara knew it wouldn't be too long before everyone knew.”

 

“This morning? She was with you this morning? That's why you didn't answer your door?”

 

“Well we were both still asleep.”

 

“So I really missed my chance, I screwed it up again.”

 

“I- I'm really sorry.”

 

“Do you like her?”

 

“I do, we have a lot in common.”

 

“She's a scientist who's never been on an exploration ship before and your you! What could you possibly have in common?”

 

“I'm me? What's that supposed to mean?”

 

“Look Ed, I'm asking you as a friend, please break up with her.”

 

“Break up with her! So you can take your chances with her? Your chances which are basically zero!”

 

“Hey I-”

 

“You got dumped by your own stalker.”

 

“So your wife cheated on you and your last girlfriend tried to kill us all.”

 

“Technically Pria didn't try to kill us, we were already dying or something and she just wanted our ship to sell. And that's a low blow, you know how I feel about that.”

 

“Do I? We don't talk about our feelings.”

 

“How is that my fault! When I broke up with Kelly you didn't even ask me if I was okay.”

 

“I let you stay at my place! I had your back when Kelly was assigned as our first officer, I always have your back. When do you ever have mine? I'm asking you for one thing here-”

 

“Gordon, you know what your Union record says? It says you're unhirable, but I hired you for my first crew as Captain I brought you with me. Without me you wouldn't have been able to set foot in a union ship, you wouldn't have this job. Do you understand that? When do I have your back? Every day that you have a damn job.”

 

The two had stopped walking by now, standing their arguing quite loudly, Alara hoped she was the only one hearing all this although that was unlikely since they were outside people's living quarters. It was likely that news of this argument would be everyone on the ship by lunchtime. Alara liked to track gossip on the Captain around the ship, firstly it kept her informed if any confidential info had leaked and also it was nice hearing what the Captain was up to when he didn't always tell the crew his personal business.

 

Everything Ed had said about Janel, he liked her, they had things in common, he wouldn't break up with her, they were already a couple after one day. It was everything Alara had convinced herself wouldn't happen, everything she hoped she wouldn't hear. She didn't even have to talk to Ed now about this since she'd over heard all this.

 

Alara wanted a drink but it was first thing in the morning and people liked to talk on such a small (mid-sized) ship so she settled for drowning her sorrows in a bowl of coco pops. If she had been one day earlier. Like Gordon she had fallen for him hook, line and sinker and like Gordon, she had missed her chance.


	4. Who Will Feed The Coals Of Joy...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> _“The children, they're not my enemies."_
> 
>  
> 
> _"After what they saw you do today, they will be. They will be."_  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> Helen of Troy had destroyed thousands of ships. Teleya just wanted to destroy one.

Her brother. Murdered.

 

Her ship. Destroyed.

 

Her crew. Slaughtered.

 

The union had been foolish. They'd been foolish and then call it mercy when they had let Teleya go.

 

Ed Mercer treated her with kid gloves but she was no idiot, she knew the position she had been put in when she'd been detained. She was in the heart of the union, it was not often that the humans dealt with civilian Krill and they had no idea how to handle her. They were used to haphazardly dispatching her kinsmen but they restrained themselves only by a little thing the union liked to call ethics, as if that put them in the right, as if that absolved them of their crimes against her people.

Having found her innocent of the crimes the soldier had committed they had no other choice other then to let her go and return her to the Krill home world. She had been grateful to return home but she'd be damned if she let Ed Mercer get away with all this.

She'd warned him about Koja's hatred of him, of all the kid's hatred that would fester and grow until one day those children became the very thing the Union hated; but she hadn't warned him about her own anger, her own rage that bubbled and built up inside her until she wanted to burst from it all.

She'd listened to the guard chatter when she'd been in jail, awaiting the decision of some Admiral far away, she'd listen to them complain about their spouses and their parents and their spouses' parents. All they did was complain and then insult each other and laugh. It was almost fascinating had it not been for the vile creatures doing the chatting. They didn't talk to her, they never talked to her although sometimes they spoke about her and her Krill brethren as if she was not even there and the things they said made her blood boil.

She vowed then and there, sitting in her cell like a caged animal, that she would get her revenge on Captain Ed Mercer. He would rue the day he'd ever set foot on her ship, the Yakar.

As soon as they'd released her, told her to remember their mercy and lenience, she'd got to researching.

She'd read all sorts of books on life, love, family, revenge. The people humans called heroes and idolised, the kind of people they called monsters. She read Shakespeare and Chaucer and J.K. Rowling along side 'holy' books and biblical texts and she'd watched old Earth television shows and movies, things that were essential to humans who had grown up on Earth like Ed Mercer had. She'd taught herself the art of Dark Matter Cartography which seemed like a very random skill set but it was a much sort after position by many different ships and so it was her best way into the Union.

In her research she'd come across Homer. The Iliad. It old of the arrogance and pride and hubris of humans, the things they did for glory, killing, murdering, stealing people from their homes and then calling them heroes for it, how they destroyed each other as well as their enemies and how it was all started by a single woman. Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships.

She'd watched many movies, seen many different relationships and yet the most common seemed to be a white man and a white woman in a monogamous relationship. Human males valued physical beauty when choosing a partner and it was with this knowledge that Teleya had everything she had to succeed in her revenge plot.

She searched the galaxies for some dubious scientists who were only too thrilled to make non-lethal contact with a Krill, she exchanged information on Krill technology for a face changer, like the ones Ed and Gordon had worn, and it was with that that she donned her new face, her new ship launching face.

Her golden locks, her bright smile, perfect teeth and green eyes. She was practically perfect in every way by human standards.

 

A well place woman could destroy everything men had built for themselves.

 

Helen of Troy had destroyed thousands of ships. Teleya just wanted to destroy one.

 

“ _I'm Alara, the Chief of Security.”_

 

“ _I'm lieutenant Janel Tyler, the new Dark Matter cartographer.”_

 

“ _Well lieutenant, welcome to The Orville.”_


End file.
